Who can help me whittle down our standard contract statement of work to 1 page?

I would be happy to help; my fee is $175/hour.

I’ll do it for $150/hr.. . with the fluther.com discount

Why the push to shorten a contract? What does it matter to you if people do or don’t read the whole thing? As long as it covers your needs and says what you will do (and maybe what you will not) and how you expect to be paid for that, why a push to make it shorter than it is (or shorter than it should be)?

Your contract could be “Studio Shah representatives will talk to and email you, take notes and deliver… something of value, and you can pay us after that.” Would that suit your needs? After all, it’s short, and it says what you do. Contracts describe agreements between parties—and often, what measures will be taken to protect the interests of both parties when the agreements are broken. If you never make complex agreements, never break your own promises and never deal with clients who break promises or disagree with your deliveries, then you don’t need much of a contract.

I never had a contract when I did babysitting, lawn mowing for neighbors or light cleaning work for a single family. When I delivered newspapers, and later as I took more and more complex jobs, I had to sign various agreements.

I don’t see the sense in this question, frankly.

@CyanoticWasp Great answer! Here’s my answer to your question, “Why the push to shorten a contract?”

I’ve just read the book Rework, and it’s convinced me that in every part of my business, I should strive to manifest my core values and principles of ease-of-use, quality and meaningful communication, and no bullshit. My contract currently falls way short of this ideal.

If it’s not creating value, I want it to improve. Hence my question :-)

@maudie I guess your contract could say something along the lines of:

“If you trust us enough to order work / products / whatever from us and agree to pay us in the agreed-upon way, then we trust you to live up to your part of the bargain, and we’ll both come out ahead.”

But your attorney will hate it… because not everyone will trust you, and some will prove untrustworthy. So if you can live with some dead Accounts Receivable, then wording such as that might work for you. I wouldn’t try it, though.

@CyanoticWasp Very interesting point. I think we are actually fortunate to be working in a business where we could afford some dead accounts receivable due to the increase in cool business we’d have as a result of a forward-thinking contract. Thanks for the insight!